Director Julie Taymor indulges in tortured souls: her magnificent screen debut as a director, Titus, gave a unique vision of bloodthirsty Shakespearean characters who thrive on revenge and grief. Now she explores the troubled spirit and individual nature of Hispanic artist Frida Kahlo in the sumptuous Frida.

In order to escape the misery of her crippled existence  Frida's dipped her life in colour and splashed her vivid dreams on canvasses. This captured the heart of another impassioned and womanising artist, Diego Rivera, who - despite his flaws - fell in love with Frieda and took her for his third wife.

Taymor captures Frida's pain and her turbulent relationship with Diego perfectly, thanks to excellent performances by  Salma Hayek in the title role, with Alfred Molina as Diego.

Although we have seen Hayek in films such as 'The Wild Wild West' and 'Desperado', Frida is tailor-made for her; she completely captures the enthused spirit of the young Frida, the vulnerability of a woman and pain, and the alluring charm of an artist who was fully immersed in her art.

We have seen Alfred Molina deliver several brilliant performances. The patronizing evil mayor in 'Chocolat' immediately springs to mind, but it is his portrayal of the jealous gay lover of playwright Joe Orton in "Prick Up Your Ears' that rings true to Frida;  Molina's Diego is the devil incarnated, you are dazzled by his charm but petrified of the lurking danger.

Just as Kenneth Halliwell was consumed by Orton's persona, so does Diego feed of Kahlo's genius. It is an abusive relationship that is filled with passion, hope and desire. The dynamics of the relationship between Kahlo and Frida fuels the narrative and is complemented by a vibrant music score.

Taymor worked closely with composer Elliot Goldenthal to construct a mix of powerful acoustic guitar solos, romantically reflective arrangements, and up-tempo folkloric-influenced tracks. The soundtrack also features Goldenthal's haunting vocal duet sung by Brazilian music giant Caetano Velosa and Lila Downs, known for blending Latin, Native American and African sounds.

Chavela Vargas, the Costa Rican born legend, was sought out by Frida and Diego because of the intense honesty, eroticism and authenticity she brought to the music of Mexico and of that region, and sings La Llorona live on screen in one of the emotionally charged scenes.

Biopics on the lives of artists who have made an impact on the world have always fascinated cinemagoers and intrigued filmmakers. The transformation from fact to fiction could go the route of James Ivory's 'Surviving Picasso', a realistic portrayal of Pablo Picasso; Jim Sheridan's excellent drama 'My Left Foot', the story of Irish writer-artist Christy Brown who was afflicted with cerebral palsy; or John Maybury's brilliant surreal 'Love is the Devil', a disturbing portrait of British painter Francis Bacon.

Taymor's understanding of artistic temperament is evident; she masterfully infuses the audience with the artist's mindscape, allowing us to enter the mind of Frida Khalo. We see the world through Frida's eyes, and experience her agony through Taymor's unique blend of abstract animation and surreal images.

Unfortunately, as with Titus, Taymor's imagery and trickery dazzles and overwhelms, but strips the film of sincerity.  This could maybe be the result of the screenplay, based on Hayden Herrera's 'Frida; A biography of Frida Kahlo', which was written by four scriptwriters: Gregory Nava, Clancy Sigal, Anna Thomas and Diane Lake.

The central focus of Frida's journey is thrown off-balance. The end result is a fascinating but fragmented story that offers insightful glimpses of significant events that shaped Frida's existence. These events are unified by Taymor's definite style, and strung together like pearls on a string.

Frida is an exceptional film that has impact and clout, but does not resonate. The intrigue and fascination lies on the surface but does not allow us to take it home with us.

With Frida we fully experience the life of an extraordinary artist, and totally embrace the passion and craftsmanship of the filmmakers and performers, but fall short of becoming entirely emotionally involved with the subject matter.

Frida is showing exclusively on the Cinema Nouveau circuit nationwide.

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